Forest mensuration and nature analysis for forest planning purposes. A case study and field application in Romagna Coast

Abstract

The Romagna Coast is a very human made area of Northern Italy. It appears as a mosaic in which every single tile is represented by a different landscape unit. However, this territory is rich also in ecological systems with relevant natural value. There is an 80 kilometers long woodland strip which runs in North-South direction over the Provinces of Ravenna, Ferrara and Forlì-Cesena.These woodlands are mostly of human origin and made up by Maritime Pine (Pinus pinaster Ait.). Despite of their origin, now they are rich in biodiversity, especially in relation to the botanical composition richness and they represent a very big ecological corridor, which includes and keeps in connection many Natural Protected Areas.Thirteen of these Areas are classified as “State Nature Reserves”. Here the forest management has been directed for decades by appropriate forest plans. These plans are now undergoing a review and upgrade process. The first step of this process has been to get useful data in order to describe the forest ecosystem structure. The current study reports on the activities done in this first step. A speedy investigation method, based on specific forest mensuration and nature evaluation analysis, has been applied here. This made it possible to get reliable data in a short time and at small cost.